The Forbidden Fruit
by lusifergirl45
Summary: Though the title may sound odd I think it perfectly describes this fanfiction, which tells the story of Harry's long lost twin sister, Gemmalyn and her experience as she enters Hogwarts for her first year. She already knows Draco Malfoy from her years spent living with Sirius Black, Narcissa's cousin whom she and her family bonded with pro-Azkaban, what happens when they reconnect?
1. Chapter 1

Watching out the window of the Hogwarts Express, Gemmalyn Petunia Potter felt a pang as she saw her twin brother hugging Mrs. Weasley, a short and plump red headed woman who had become his second mother. Of course, Gemma had never met her brother before, as she was brought up in the warmth of the Romanian sun under the care of Sirius Black, a kind man who was previously convicted as a murderer, though his name was eventually cleared as the Ministry got hold of Peter Pettigrew, the true murderer. Her twin had been unfortunate enough to be sent to live with her mother's sister. Sirius said he had asked Dumbledore to take both twins, but as the old man thought, it was decided that the best course of action was to separate the twins as a safety precaution.

A slight tear cascaded its way down Gemma's face and she hurried to brush it away as she thought about all she left behind in Romania and her first school, Durmstrang. Touching the pendant at the base of her throat, she breathed a sigh, attempting to release all negative emotions as if her breath was a relaxation spell, reaching into her stomach to rid the organ of any issues influenced by emotion. The Hogwarts Express' whistle sounded for the last time and the loitering students jumped to life, turning and rushing onto the train.

Gemma was able to maintain an empty cabin for a full 3 minutes once the Express departed, and she had used them to let herself wallow in the memories of her old school and the fun times she had had with her peers.

"Well well, who might we have here?" a voice asked from the doorway. Gemma looked up and wiped away a stray tear as she noticed twin boys with red hair and freckles.

"What do you want?" Gemma replied to the boy shakily.

"Well we saw a pretty little thing just sittin' there all alone" started one twin, later found out to be Fred Weasley.

"And decided we wanted to know more." Finished George Weasley.

"And, we needed a compartment to sit in." Fred added. Gemma found herself trying not to smile, so she bit her lip hard and nodded, turning to once more stare out the window.

"Fred, would you look at that?"

"What might I be looking at, dear Georgie?"

"Well if we can persuade this young woman here to open up to us and tell her name, we may just be able to discover the meaning of that pendant slung 'round her neck." The twins plan together loudly how they will convince Gemma to spill her name, and Gemma makes sure she is out of the twins' view when she lets her smile erupt on her face. She gives herself 3 seconds with the grin before biting down on the soft, fleshy material that is her cheek.

"You can call me Gee." Gemma turned towards the boys, and both twins held back a grin until the initial surprise wore off. "And you are?"

"Well I'm Fred Weasley,"

"And I'm George Weasley." Nodding, Gemma's fingers gently fiddle with the metal shape that hung from her neck.

"So what is that pendant?" Fred asks. He watches Gemma more to try and understand her odd appearance than to find out the meaning of her necklace.

"It is a family heirloom, one might say." Looking out the window, Gemma remembers the day Sirius gave her the necklace that had previously been owned by Slazar Slytherin. The necklace was a family heirloom, Gemma had not lied, however the silver pendant had been an heirloom in Sirius' family rather than her own, connecting the Black's family to one of the original founders of Hogwarts. The pendant was etched intricately out of pure silver, and is sparked as the snake carved out of emeralds buzzed with electricity, waiting for an order from the parseltongue speaking girl. Not that it could do much, just shoot up a shield or summon a house elf or what not. But the reptile had always been there for Gemma, and she loved the necklace more than anything despite her lack of meaning put into material objects

"Fred, George, there you are!" Gemma looked cautiously over her shoulder as she watched the twins exchange a look and glance up at the third boy with freckles and red hair.

"Ello Ron." George said cheerfully. Fred playfully saluted his younger sibling, carefully keeping an eye on the mysterious girl sitting across from himself.

"Harry's twin is on the train! He is trying to find her, any idea?" the youngest ginger child's dark eyes were alight with excitement as he suddenly noticed the young girl in the compartment.

"Ron, this is Gee. Gee, this is our brother Ron. He thinks he is special because his best friend is The Boy Who Lived." Fred said the introduction lightly, but he was watching the girl seriously. All boys were surprised when Gemma stood up and mumbled "excuse me" as she pushed past Ronald Weasley, the youngest Weasley son who had yet to truly talk to the mysterious girl.

As Gemma walked down the hall to the loo, she kept her eyes trained on the red carpet of the train, for she knew the unusual appearance her eyes held surprised people and caused them to look, something she did not enjoy. Closing the door to the bathroom, Gemma took a needed deep breath and decided to be nicer to the boys in the compartment, even though she wished to not reveal herself as the missing Potter twin. After washing her hands, Gemma left the safety and isolation of the restroom and headed back to her shared compartment. She stopped suddenly as she recognized her brother, but after a moment, she pushed herself forward.

Smiling at each of the twins, Gemma entered the compartment to sit down and fall asleep until she arrived at Hogwarts Castle, where she got off the train and headed to the boats with the first years. She helped paddle the small row boat so that the magic to bring them across the water would start up, and after it did, Gemma leaned back and relaxed as she watched the castle glitter and sparkle, more so as the boats drew nearer.

"Are you nervous?" a first year to Gemma's right asked.

"Kind of." Gemma answered. The first year turned to her and sneered.

"I wasn't asking you, Gigantisor. What, were you held back?" the first years words would normally hurt her, as she was quite small for a fourth year, but large for a first. But as she responded, she held nothing but pride in her voice and body.

"No, actually. I just switched from Durmstrang. I will be entering here as a forth year." Gemma watches as the girl's smirks melts off her face and solidifies instead into a sneer. Turning back to Professor McGonagall, Gemma wonders what house she will be placed into. Sirius, her brother, and her parents all had been in Gryffindor, but that didn't actually matter if she didn't go to the house that values bravery.

The sorting hat sang a song that Gemma failed to truly listen to, but she knew it was just telling the first years the qualities that each house valued. As the sorting began, Gemma stared at her shoes, wondering if she would have to take off her necklace if she was placed anywhere besides Slytherin.

"Gemmalyn Potter" McGonagall's voice rang out and everyone at the tables was suddenly silent, as if a Silent Charm had been placed over the students. Gemma stood and pushed herself to the front, sitting on the stool as the hat was placed onto her head.

_"Ahh, another Potter. What is that necklace you wear? Hmm…I recognize it as that of Slazar Slytherin am I correct? Yes, I see I am. Now, what do you treasure most? Is it bravery, like that of your parents and brother? Or shall you be placed in the very house created by the original owner of your necklace?"_

Gemma swallowed hard. What house did she want to be in? She was not especially smart, and she knew little about the loyalty Hufflepuff honored. While she liked to believe that she was brave, or would be in a situation that called for bravery, she had been protected from Lord Voldemort while at Durmstrang. Nobody knew where she was, but it was known Harry was at Hogwarts, so Voldemort targeted him, not Gemma, and she remained safe, out of situations that would force her to be brave.

Durmstrang, on the other hand, had valued the ability to lie or get away with stuff. They had valued her sarcastic remarks and jokes and pranks and strength in hexes and curses.

"I don't know where I belong. How am I suppose to see in myself something I have never needed to use?" Gemma whispered. She looked around the Great Hall and saw the quiet students perched on the edges of their seats, each with similar looks of anxiety and hope mixed together upon their faces. As her eyes drifted from right to left, she saw a boy with dark air that stuck out at all angels with oddly circular glasses. The higher concentration of hope on his face gave Gemma the knowledge she needed to deduct that this boy was, in fact, her brother.

But, as Gemma thought, she understood how she could be brave, considering she has yet to know her brother, a boy who sat at the table of the exact house she was debating whether or not she could fit into. But isn't going into a slightly scary situation headstrong and confident, bravery? Couldn't it be considered brave if one forces themselves to go into a house that requires them to honor qualities they do not know if they possess?

_"Tick tock, Miss Potter. Time is running out." _The hat hissed in her ear. The voice sent shivers down her spine and she shut her eyes.

"I want to defeat him, and I want a family." Gemma exhaled.

_"GRYFFINDOR!" _the hat erupted from it's silence, and if possible, the students at the Gryffindor table were instantly the loudest thing in the room, roaring in happiness that they got not one famous Potter, but two.

Gemma stood up and the hat fell off of her, caught by Professor McGonagall at the last moment. As she gently stepped down the stairs, she noticed that her brother had gotten up from his spot at the table and was looking at her. Ignoring the smile pulling at her lips, Gemma opened her mouth and said one thing.

"Brother"

Everyone gasped, and Harry, unsurprised, replied "Sister", and just as his only family member left had, Harry spoke in parseltongue. Closing her eyes for a moment, a tear slipped down Gemma's face. She didn't even brush it away before running and launching herself into her brother's arms.

Harry, who was surprised by this, stumbled back slightly before catching himself and wound his arms around his long lost sister. All students were watching, and most of the professors were also. Professor McGonagall was attempting to get the attention back to the Sorting Hat when the doors to the Great Hall slammed open and a scary looking man limped in, one leg wooden and one eye attached by a headband. Mad-Eye Moody's eyes were both drawn to the Potter twins, and seeing this he yelled for all students to sit back down, and his one real eye glared uncharacteristically at the duo. Gemma let go of Harry and followed him back to the table, sitting in between Harry and Fred Weasley, one of the twins she met on the train. Moody muttered incoherently during his walk up the steps to the professors table, and earned several concerned glances from McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore. McGonagall continued with the sorting, but the students closest to the Potters at the Gryffindor table whispered amongst themselves.

"Wow Fred, never saw that one comin', did ya?" George Weasley asked his twin. The sarcastic remark made Gemma smile. That is, until a girl across from Harry stuck out her hand and waited for Gemma to do the same.

"I'm Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you." The girl had a firm grip on Gemma's hand, and it made her uncomfortable.

"Gee." Gemma replied with.

"I beg your pardon?" Hermione asked.

"Gee, call me Gee." Gemma chuckled and looked at the boy she had met earlier. Ronald Weasley sat across from Gemma at the table with his mouth slung open as if the jaw joint had not worked.

"Ronald, close your mouth. We aren't trying to catch flies are we?" Hermione patted his shoulder, eventually hitting him hard because the boy just would not close his mouth.

"I-I-I…" Ron started. "I cannot believe I met you on the train and didn't know!"

"Well its not like Harry and I look extremely similar…"Gemma trailed off, letting her hair cover the left side of her face. The kids continued to chat about what Moody was there for until Dumbledore called for attention.

"Well that was an interesting sorting now wasn't it?" Dumbledore laughed with some of the students at his joke before continuing on. "Now, as you can see we have a wonderful Auror here to fill our Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position. Please welcome Professor Moody. Lastly, we have been given the honor this year to host the Triwizard Tournament, which means we will have students from Beauxbatons Academy and Durmstrang joining us this year for classes. The Triwizard Tournament is an ancient series of tasks that one student from each school will compete in against the other students. The winner will receive 100,000 Galleons and the pride of winning for their school. Now, please welcome the esteemed students from Beauxbatons and their headmistress, Olympe Maxime." Dumbledore's words ended right as the doors opened, letting in about 2 dozen girls dressed in powder blue skirts, jackets, and hats. The maximize their entrance by having each girl stop and turn every few steps, opening their arms and going into a demi-plie. They sighed loudly at each stop, finally going to the right side of the room as their Headmistress walked in, the woman's form was large, even larger than Hagrid's half giant, but as she walked to join her students, Gemma found herself worrying about the Durmstrang students. Dumbledore gently placed a kiss on Madam Maxime's hand before announcing the Durmstrang students and their Headmaster, Igor Karkarov. The students marched in suddenly, most holding large wooden poles with fire on them, which they swung ceremoniously. The students gathered with their headmaster to the left of the room, and Dumbledore respectfully hugged Karkarov.

"Lastly, I will tell you that a large goblet will be set up in this very Hall. To enter, write your name on a piece of parchment and drop it in the goblet. A bit of advice however. If you are under 17, do not enter, for the tournament will only be for those students above this age for safety precautions. All students entering their names shall be warned that competitors have died in this competition. And on that note, pip pip!"


	2. Chapter 2

Gemma watched as the table in front of her filled with food, and as hungry as she was, all she could do was look at the students at the Durmstrang table.

"I can't believe we are finally meeting you. My name is Hermione Granger, and I already know you are Gemmalyn-" The bushy haired girl is cut off by Ron Weasley.

"Hermione, you already introduced yourself with her." He complained with a mouth full of meat. Hermione blushed and looked down to pick at her food. Harry too had a mouth full of food, and he looked up to say something to Ron when he noticed his newly found sister standing up from the table.

"Gee, where are you going?" Harry calls. Gemma turns and makes eye contact with her brother.

"I'll be right back." She replies. She turns again and walks fast, almost urgently, over to the Durmstrang table.

"Gemma!" one of the girls who sat there cried. The others at the table turned or looked up so they could see the red-haired girl who stood by their table hesitantly.

"Nika!" Gemma's face lit up as she recognized her best friend, a fair girl from Norway. The two girls collided into one another and wrapped their arms around each other tightly. The two friends pulled back and looked at each other, laughing giddily.

"I cannot believe that you are here! I cannot believe I am here either!" Nika exclaimed, her accent thickening her English.

"Neither can I! I cried on the way here because I was convinced I would never see you lot again." Gemma admitted sheepishly.

"Gemma, you are a lot stupider than I thought if you had the notion that we would never see each other again. We have our bracelets, no?" Viktor Krum stood up next to Gemma, engulfing her small body in his muscular arms. She had become a sort of younger sister to Krum over the years, and he had to blink repeatedly to prevent a tear or two from slipping down his face, not from sadness, but from relief that he was with her and able to protect her still.

"I forgot all about the bracelets!" Gemma giggled as Krum ruffled her hair. He bent down to her 5'3" frame and placed his pointer finger under her chin, tilting her face up.

"Show me your eyes, Malko Edin." Gemma's eyes moved up to meet Viktor's, and he brushed her hair out of her face to get a better look. "Ahh, there they are. My Emerald and my Sapphire." Gemma's smile grew as she flung her arms around her almost-brother's neck, hugging him once more. Krum laughed and Nika muttered something quick to him in Bulgarian, a language that all students learned at Durmstrang.

Gemma understood her friend and spun around fast, her palm open as she smacked Nika's arm.

"Ow!" the victim exclaimed.

"Viktor is my brother, nothing else." Gemma's voice rose as she said the phrase in Bulgarian. The Durmstrang table looked up at her and while some looked down without interest, others attempted to hide their smiles.

"Gigi, I hate to interrupt, but it looks like your new English friends are wanting you back." Krum's low voice rumbled throughout his chest. He turned over to the direction that, when she looked, Gemma saw her twin and his friends watching. Viktor mustered his best English "hello" and waved. Aleksandar gave Gemma a quick hug and then Viktor decided it was time for Gemma to go and eat at her own table. Smiling, Krum and Gemma walked over to the Gryffindor table.

"Looks like you have fans here." Gemma smiled up at Viktor who had been her knight in shining armor when she got lost on her way to classes her first year at Durmstrang.

"Yes, well when you are 17 and a famous Quidditch player, that tends to happen, no?" the sarcasm in his voice made Gemma roll her eyes and she elbowed Krum in the ribs.

"Don't know, I am not the famous one." Gemma quickly realized the error of her comment. "Well, at Quidditch at least. Never know though, I am 'The Girl Who Lived'. Maybe there all looking at me." She quirked her eyebrow at her companion who just smiled and ruffled her hair again.

"Stop." Gemma threw her hands up to try and fight off Krum, letting out an exasperated sigh as Krum rolled his eyes.

"We are at the table." Krum says in English.

"Work on the English eh? You seriously suck at it." Gemma's Bulgarian was good; she had learned fast and spoke it better than some of the natives. The language wasn't swirly and pretty as French was, but she liked the harsh sound of some of the words, as if it put more meaning into it. She preferred to speak Bulgarian over English for this reason.

"I do not suck at English!" Krum scoffed at the accusation. "Go, sit now." He turned to Gemma and hugged her once more before turning to the students at the table who were watching intently. "Very nice to meet you all." He tried hard to enunciate most times, but this phrase had been forced upon his lips so often during press conferences and such for Quidditch that effort was not needed for the words to come out perfectly.

"You…you're" Ron stuttered. "You're Viktor Krum!"

"No, this is his evil twin brother, Markus Krum." Gemma thought fast, but what escaped her was the fact the words came out in Bulgarian and not English as she meant for them to. The kids at the Gryffindor table stared at her until she understood her mistake and blushed.

"Nice one, except I'm the only one who understood that…Point for Krum." Viktor's smirk could only be wiped away by good comeback, and Gemma knew it. She pushed him away frustrated and he walked back to his table with a smile.

"Hey, Krum!" Gemma yelled. The tall boy turned and raised an eyebrow. "At least I can speak English!" Gemma giggled as her words, however Bulgarian they came out, hit the sore spot of English on the older boy. His smirk fell and was replaced by a grimace as he walked back to the table. Laughing, Gemma sat back down at her spot at the Gryffindor table to find Hermione, Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and a few other students she had yet to meet all staring at her.

"What? My first school was Durmstrang." She shrugged before piling food on her plate and eating her fill. "You're going to catch flies with your mouths open like that! Wait, am I speaking English?" her new friends all burst out laughing, and while she knew it was because of her, Gemma was happy to see they weren't hit by a random stunning spell.

"Do you really not know what language you're speaking?" Ron asked incredulously. Gemma laughed, and she felt better, less shy, after talking with Viktor and Nika and Aleksandar.

"Well, if I think about it I can tell, but its like my primary language is not just English, it is fighting in co-dominance with Bulgarian. I learned it so young and so fast, they make the students start doing home school for Durmstrang at 5 or 6 years old, and half of that is learning Bulgarian because that is the language all of the professors teach in. But because of that, it's more comfortable actually to speak Bulgarian because at school that's what we speak. So it is especially hard to speak English this time of year because I'm not used to it." Gemma shrugged her shoulder and without thinking, pushed her hair out of her face.

"Woah!" Fred exclaimed. Gemma looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Freddie, are you alright mate?" George asked his twin.

"Her eyes!" Gemma looked back down at her food again.

"Wow this food is really good, huh?" she asked.

"What is wrong with her eyes?" Hermione asks. Harry's mouth hands open and his eyebrows furrow in.

"They are two different colors!" Fred was acting like he found out Gemma had a fake eye, or was pregnant. Yet his reaction must have been spot on because the other students were consumed with trying to see her eyes now, and she refused, not out of embarrassment, but out of not liking the attention. Quite honestly she loved her eyes, the green from her mum and the blue from her dad, but other people made such a big deal about it that she felt she should be ashamed.

"Ooo dessert!" a boy sitting farther down the table dropped his leg of lamb and piled his plate with cake and pudding. Later on that evening, Gemma would meet this boy that was called Seamus Finnigan. But what she would remember is that as she watched him shovel bites of fluffy white cake into his mouth, Hermione snuck a glance at her eyes.

"Woah." Hermione looked at Fred, who nodded in agreement. "Gemma, that is cool." Gemma looked down again as the gang all turned to look at her once more, this time more bent than ever on seeing her look at them.

"I don't get how eyes can be cool." Ron said stupidly. "I mean, all eyes just look like…eyes! Everyone's are different but you can almost always find somebody with eyes similar to that." The finishing few words were completed with gobs of mashed up food in his mouth, spraying all over the table.

"Ew!" Hermione squeaked.

"Ew mate, close the mouth when you chew." Harry said, his face as disgusted as the others at the table.

"So what you're saying, Harry, is that you've never seen her eyes before and you are her brother?" Ron ignored everyone's complaints as he plowed on.

"Well I mean I just met her today for the first time…" Harry's hand reaches behind his head and he scratches mindlessly.

"Why does everyone want to see her eyes?" a boy sitting next to Ron's sister, Ginny, asked angrily.

"Neville, this is my sister, Gemma." Harry introduces the two but pays little actual attention as he waves his hand in the air as a way to say "this is her, this is him."

"Blimey Harry, you're sister has cool eyes!" Neville exclaims. Gemma has turned this into a game of show everybody but Harry. She looks down again quickly and as Harry puts his head into his hands, she looked up at Ron, who gasped and dropped his last forkful of pudding.

"Eye mate, would you look at that?" George says to Fred. "Get it? Eye?" Gemma starts to crack up and Harry takes advantage and looks at his sister. Her eyes are closed from laughing so hard, but as soon as they open, Harry gasps.

"You have one eye from mum-"

"And one from Dad. Cool right?" Gemma quirked a smile and Harry's eyes lit up with understanding.

"You were just messing with me then. Just now."

"I have 14 years to make up for, Big Brother." Gemma laughed again and this time the others at the table do too, and they all stand up as the Head Boys and Girls lead the students to their dormitories.

"What's it like at Durmstrang?" Ron's eyes focused on the fire as he moved a rock around in his hand mindlessly.

"The people are nicer to each other, I think, because we have to...stick together, ya? I think that's the term. The teachers' punishments are harsher and the school building itself is not very welcoming, harsh stone and very little light. There are a lot of windows, but its often now a nice view, as the grounds are usually covered in snow and grey skies. Its not homey, and our common rooms are not in…well colors. Everything is grey and black and white, like black and white photographs. The fire keeps the rooms warm though." Gemma looks off distantly with a smile, and this confuses Hermione.

"So even though it's dreary and controlling and dangerous, you still miss it?" Gemma looks up, startled, and her eyes focus on Hermione's the dual tone enchanting to the bushy haired girls' boring brown ones.

"Think of the worst part of Hogwarts, perhaps the Slytherin students, or Professor Snape, or Divination. But it's all part of Hogwarts, see? Now what if you are placed into another school, where all the students were smart and willing to do a lot of work so they could learn as much as possible. Wouldn't you love to be treated as an equal, rather than an outcast know it all? Where the term mudblood was nonexistent? Yes, you would. But would you still miss Harry and Ron and Neville, all of your friends here for that fact? Wouldn't you miss learning amazing amounts in potions class because your teacher didn't care how anyone's grades actually turned out? Maybe even just the feeling you get for proving to the Slytherins that just because you're muggle born does not, in fact, mean that you are incapable of being a wondrous witch?" Hermione nods and Gemma continues. "All I mean to say, is that even though it might not have been the best school, up until now it's all I've known, so of course I am comparing it to Hogwarts, but that doesn't mean that I won't miss it. I had a lot of fun times there, friends help you get into trouble without getting punished. We pulled a lot of pranks." Gemma laughed suddenly.

"Pranks you say?" Fred Weasley inched closer to the fire as the wind outside howled, uncharacteristic for this time of year.

"Why yes, Fred, pranks. Why do you ask?" Gemma's eyes glittered as she looked at the twin, a smile playing on her lips.

"Well, you see, we enjoy pranks ourselves, don't we Georgie?" The clock struck midnight, and Gemma felt a strange pain on her left forearm, which she promptly ignored.

"We should be getting to bed." Hermione stood up, grabbing Gemma's arm to steer her to their beds. "Good night." The girls waved and marched up the stairs. As soon as her head hit the pillow, Gemma was asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

A tapping at the window occurred early morning on the first day of classes, and Gemma was tossing and turning until this point, where she abruptly awoke and let in the annoyed owl, which dropped a letter on Gemma's bed and then flew out the window. Rubbing her eyes, Gemma turned and reached for the letter, sitting down on her bed to read it.

_Gems,_

_Hope you arrived safely. I miss you here already, as I always do. I again thank you for being such a good sport in switching schools, its been so nice to live in my own home once more, though it does remind me of my disappointed family. None the less, my dear girl, I hope you're sorting went well and that you finally met your brother. Harry is a very nice young man, though sometimes naïve. As promised, here is you're ring back. Tonks says thank you for letting her use it for her presentation. _

_Love, _

_Padfoot and Witherwings_

Gemma smiled as she reached for her own parchment and quill, though she slipped her ring back on, one that her parents had left her. The aged silver had darkened in some areas, but the intricate design curled around the entire ring. A circle stood out, as this was the main part to the ring. The metal curved over the top of the shape with the letters TMR on it in swirly handwriting. Gemma smiled, for even though she did not know the true meaning to these letters, she always found comfort in them. Slipping the right onto her right middle finger, she gathered her robes and a shirt and dark trousers in her arms before trodding lightly to the bathroom. As she showered, she wondered what Sirius was doing at number twelve, his new/old home. He hadn't moved there until after she went to school.

"Gemma? Are you in here?" Hermione's voice echoed off the walls, scaring the new Gryffindor.

"Yea! In the second stall!" Gemma's arm flew above the stall doors and Hermione laughed as her friend's swear was heard.

"You got the best one!" Hermione started the water in the next stall and placed her clothes on the bench outside the stall just as Gemma shut off her water and got dressed.

"Be quicker next time!" Gemma laughed as she left the stall.

"I was about to say the same to you." Gemma yelled a quick good-bye as she left the bathroom and walked up to her room where the other girls were gathering their belongings to go shower.

"Hello"

"Good morning." The sleepy students all nodded their heads and greeted Gemma between their yawns on their way to the bathroom to shower. Laughing, she pulled out her trunk from under her bed and dug around to find socks and shoes. Her red hair was pulled back out of her face at the time being, and it was because of this that Gemma was able to notice that she had another letter on her bed. She closed her trunk and kicked it under the bed, brushing off her pants as she stood up and gathered the new note, Sirius' letter, and fresh parchment and quills along with her knapsack and walked hastily to the Great Hall.

**Gemma's POV**

"Gemma! Over here!" I looked over at the table I was already walking to and pushed a smile onto my face as I saw Fred waving at me. Truth be told, all I wanted to do is write to Sirius, eat some breakfast, and say a quick good morning to my Durmstrang friends.

"Hey Fred, what's up?" I sat down next to the ginger twin.

"I'm George." The boy said. I looked up at him, surprised. When have I ever been wrong? But then his mouth twitched and he broke into a smile. "Just pullin' ya leg, I am Fred." I elbowed him in the arm before turning to grab a bowl of oatmeal and two pieces of toast. I wrote back to Sirius as I ate.

_Padfoot,_

_ You're free, I am quite curious as to why you sign it so. Perhaps out of habit? Anyway, thank you for my ring back, I hope it helped Tonks. I still have no idea as to why it is TMR. You? Hope number 12 is well, I'm glad you are happy. What are you doing during you're days? Hope you aren't just being lazy. Make sure to exercise, you know how you get when you're cooped up. Harry and his friends are really cool, and very nice. Everyone is welcoming, not including very curious. Triwizard tournament year, don't ya know? Durmstrang is here, so that's really nice to be able to go and talk to Viktor and Aleks and Nika. Miss you muchly. XOXO_

_ Gigi_

I looked up to see that our table had added more people, including a tired Ron-and-Harry duo who would yawn as if they had it planned, so one was yawning at all times. Frankly, I don't know how they could even eat. Classes went well and it was at lunch that I remembered my second letter.

_Gemmalyn,_

_ Oh my dear, dear, Gemmalyn. Draco wrote me __very__ early this morning to tell me you switched to Hogwarts. How did it happen that Sirius did not mention this to me? Well, he will be hearing from me. Don't worry, I'm not expecting to hear from you so don't feel pressured to write back. However, it appears that Draco is…excited to say the least that you are at the same school. He said that he would have written last night but he fell asleep, but that he woke up extra early to write. Isn't he such a mama's boy? Ooh I just love it! However if you repeat that to him you shall be hexed! Anyway darling, do go easy on him, you know how he gets…especially with you. I should be going now, I'm actually quite tired. Maybe I should send Draco a howler for waking me up so early to write about his girlfriend? That would be a hoot! Well, have a good day dear._

_ Love,_

_ Cissy_

I smiled at the table before standing and walking over to the Slytherin table. I found the very obvious head of the only blond boy at the table. As he swung around, the smug look on his face was replaced with one of excitement, masked quickly with the smugness once more.

"Ah, if it isn't the new Potter." He spat. I hid a smile before thrusting my letter at him. His ears were tinged pink and I let the smile creep onto my face, the one that sometimes consumed me in a way that felt dangerous.

"I think I shall tell her yes, eh?" I sneered. Draco looked back up at me and gave me a look. A hitch in my breathing alerted me to what he meant and I relaxed quickly.

"I think you should go back to you're table, you ungrateful half-blood." He sneered. I caught the wink he threw me though and when he called me back momentarily, he sent me another 'insult' and secretively handed me a note.

Jeeze, what is with all these notes today?

That night at dinner, I went over to the Durmstrang table. Nika pulled me aside.

"Who is that boy at the snake table?" she asked in quick, low Bulgarian. I answered in the same tongue in the hopes that nobody else find out what I was about to say.

"His mom is my godfather's cousin and my godfather is who took me in after you-know-what. He and I…well how are you a thing if you're only 14 and you barely see each other? And now that we do see each other, we aren't supposed to like each other because nobody knows about the…thing…" I am referring to the fact that Draco's father is a spy, much like Snape, and his mother is against Voldemort as well, though not a Death Eater.

"But do you like him?" Nika pushed herself into me and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. I laughed and pushed her away, shaking my head.

"I don't know, okay?" I laughed and said good-bye before hugging Viktor and Aleks quickly as well. I sat down at the Gryffindor table and picked at my food. As I moved I heard a paper crinkle in my pocket.

_G_

_ Meet me at room of requirement. 7__th__ floor, across from weird painting and a tapestry. Walk by the wall 3 times thinking of the room you need. _

_ D_

_P.S. After dinner_


	4. Chapter 4

As I walked from the Great Hall to the Room of Requirement, I noticed a very quiet Hermione following behind me. I turned quickly and caught her, startled and in mid step.

"If you're going to try and follow somebody, walk further away, so that if need be, you can hide. Also, don't breath so heavy, and don't wear so much perfume." I turned back and continued my trek up to the 7th floor. Footsteps pattered quickly down the hall and I knew, without looking, Hermione had re-appeared.

"I'll go away when you tell me where you're going." She bargains. I laugh.

"No you won't. Why does it matter to you?"

"Because you're new here and I need to make sure you don't get lost." She squeaked, though the raising in her voice pitch told me she was unsure of this excuse.

"Also, lie better. You're curious, plain and simple. I'm going to the 'Room of Requirement' and going to visit with Draco Malfoy." I scoffed.

"Where are you _really_ going?" she asks, her legs pumping to keep up with me. Despite my relatively short stature of 5'3", I walked fast. Really fast.

"I just told you." I smirk to myself and then hid it quickly. She didn't believe me.

"Fine, then I'll just go tell Professor McGonagall you're not in you're house." She stuck her nose into the air and turned on her heel.

"Then you'll be admitting you were out as well. And," I continued. "It's not even curfew. I'm going to meet a Durmstrang friend." I made up. Awestruck, Hermione stood there and faltered in her step, unsure of what to do. I took this as an opportunity to run through a passageway to my right and lead myself up to the corridor with the tapestry. Walking back and forth, I honestly felt like an idiot. Who walks by a wall this many times? And in hopes of finding a door that will open to a room that fills the requirements to fit the need?

I understood why this room was on the seventh floor now. I see something shift out of my strained peripheral, and when I look up I see a grand, gorgeous door standing where a blank, stone wall once was. Gaping up at the magnificent door, I study the intricate detailing, swirly shapes and pictures within them, almost as if telling a story. I shake myself a little as it starts to disappear around the edges, and jolt forward as I run to enter the unknown ground behind the door.

"I was worried you wouldn't come." I hear as the door closes behind me. I am yet again awestruck at the beauty of the room.

"It looks like-"

"Yeah, I know. Weird, eh?" I look from the familiar paneling of the wood on the wall, painted a dim silver, and notice that it held words engraved into the wood.

"Draco, look." I pointed to the words and smile, running my fingers over the crooked letters.

"I wonder how it knew…"

_Here lies the awesome amazingness of Draco and Gigi. These words shall always be engraved here. Forever. Gigi's birthday party. 1994_

"Do you remember that day?" Draco asks suddenly. He had been quiet, as had I, for the past few minutes, and the room had been silent except for a crackling fire.

"Of course I do." I laugh. "Do you?"

"Remember the first day you actually would play with me alone? Yes." I grin.

"I only wouldn't play with you alone after you did that thing when we were like, 7?"

"Okay, for the umpteenth time, I didn't do it on purpose! My magic was just coming to its full effect!" He whined.

"You set me on fire!"

"And put you out!"

"With my godfather's birthday ice cream cake! I would have scars from third degree burns right now had I been a muggle." I pointed my nose in the air snootily before letting my smile crack through and burst out laughing. Draco joined, and as I looked around the room further, I discovered that this room was the exact replica of Draco's playroom, later turned common room, at Malfoy Manor. The emerald chairs were velvet covered and the fireplace's mantle was silver, complete with pictures that I'm sure must be what Draco left up before he left. The room only changed if he changed a picture, otherwise everything stayed the same.

"So, how do you like Hogwarts?" I turn to look at my childhood best friend, my godfather's second cousin. His hair, though longer than I remember, was slicked back, the white blonde hair not faltering in its striking color. His eyes were icy, as ever, but they were warm ice. When he was happy it looked like the coldness of his clear blue-grey eyes retreated, but the hard, seriousness had not. Though hard to describe through words, it made sense in my mind, where I think in concepts and pictures rather than words. I noticed at a young age that once I have words and sentences flowing, I feel as though I am narrating someone else's life rather than thinking.

"I've been here for two days, but so far I do. Everyone wants to get on my good side. Tell me, do I look like people should be afraid of me?" I turn my body so that I am fully in front of Draco, and as I stare into his blue-grey eyes with my own mismatched green and blue duo, I furrow my eyebrows in worried confused, tilting my head slightly.

"I think it's because not only are you the 'lost Potter twin', but that you also just transferred from Durmstrang. They don't know about the power yet."

"It's not power, it's a curse." I whisper, turning and walking away.

"I know, I know." Sighing, he plops down into one of the plush armchairs and stares into the fire.

"Sirius seems to be enjoying his new home." I bring up. Draco steals a quick look at me and turns away, but knowing him, that few-second glance took in my awkward position standing by his chair, wringing out my hands.

"How have you seriously not met your own brother? Sirius has known him for quite some time and you've yet to meet him?"

"Well I met him now, but I know what you mean. Think of it this way, if something happened at Durmstrang in the middle of the year, you wouldn't know about it. So when Harry had the issues last year, I was already at school for most of them, and therefore did not have any knowledge about the occurrence, nor any way I could have gotten there. The only time was when Sirius checked up on Harry as Padfoot, and even then we both know I was involved of a very amusing game of tag at the time, safe at the Manor, where Sirius wanted me to be." I shrugged and walked over to the mantle above the fireplace and studied the photos.

A total of 5 frames filled the space. The left was occupied by a wizard photograph of Narcissi and baby Draco, Draco in his mothers arms as she swung him high above her head and back down again, making silly faces as she did so. The next held a photo of Draco and his best friend from Hogwarts, Blaise. The two boys, about 12 at the time of the picture, were making smug faces and then cracking into laugher and smiles, giving the view a thumbs up. Smiling, I moved to the third frame. A picture myself sat there, and I was slightly taken aback. My features are all striking, my hair a bright red-orange, my eye's each their own variation of the bold cool colors. The contrasting colors all stood out against my pale skin, but the look my eyes told the story, the curiosity and happiness they held could not be matched with a smile or even by one, and I recall that day as the one I decided to no longer smile into the camera.

_Yeah, but your ugliness will brake the camera anyway._ A voice inside my head whispered. I quickly moved to the next frame to see one of Draco and I as toddlers, covered in god only knows what from shoulder to toe, but the smiles on our faces could only be bigger if our faces broke. The younger versions jumped up and down excitedly in attempt to get Narcissa and Sirius to come play with them. Turning, I found the last picture to be a family portrait of Draco, his parents, Sirius, Severus, myself, and Remus Lupin. It had been taken about two years ago, but the memory stayed.

"Durmstrang isn't as good at Hogwarts."

"Durmstrang taught the Dark Arts and made us practice it. I've already done the Cruciatis curse a few times, as well as being on the receiving end of it."

"Scary, but not what I meant. Durmstrang will turn you evil, and as we both know, even though its Harry's destiny, you can change that by deciding to be good or evil." Draco shrugged off my disturbing comment easily in place for a 'sides' speech. I've heard it before from him and what disturbs me is that I keep getting it. Does he thing that I will turn evil?

_Or maybe he can't decide for himself_ a voice says in my mind. Or maybe, I fire back, he really doesn't want me to choose evil due to the fact that the world would end all due to me siding with Voldemort.

"I know." I say finally. My voice was quiet and I doubted he could hear me, but he must of because the look on his face shifted severely.

"Look, I'm sorry, you know I promised Mum-"

"To look out for me, I know."

"Yeah. And she's right too, because we do not need to be reminded how much trouble you cause." Grinning at me, he stands and hugs me close. I feel myself relax as my body matches his, the memories of years of playing as children returning. He felt comfortable, and safe. Like home.

"Wait a minute." Draco's face becomes confused and accusatory as he turns to look directly in both eyes. "How did you know what I promised Mum?" he demanded.

"Never trust the green eye." I wink. Frustrated, he huffed a quick sigh and turned away from me, toward the fire.

"When you decided, that day, to never smile in a picture…"

"Yea?"

"Why was it?" I turned to pick up my things and leave.

"You know why. I've got to go, or they'll think something happened." I quicken my pace in hopes that Draco won't follow.

"You didn't tell me though." He appears right next to me and I know he is right, but I also know I do have to leave.

"I don't have time to tell you right now." His arm shoots out in front of me and I slam into it, stopping. He spins me around gently and a heavy smirk sat on his face.

"This room is charmed so that time passes faster. We have all of the time in the world." Frustrated, I open my mouth to feed another excuse to the boy who was my best friend, but the look he gave me, one full of knowing and trickery shut me up and had me just frowning instead.

"Why smile when you're eyes are transparent?"

"Because you have a nice smile."

"Do you remember what happened after that picture?" Draco nodded slowly, as if still thinking about it.

"Yeah, you fell and hurt your ankle."

"Smiling, for me, is a danger. When I smile, it opens up a portal to the destiny barrens. While the actual destinies are not known to me, the future is played in my eyes. If you look close, it's like watching the scene happen if all figures were made of smoke, like a dormant part of my brain is then projector and my eyes are the screen. If you look in that picture, you can see me sitting and holding my ankle, which is exactly what happened. That was the first day I noticed it, so from now own, no smiling in pictures. I don't want to know what's going to happen. Make sense?" I look at Draco, and though I am not afraid of his reaction, I am not surprised either when he silently gets up and looks at my picture. "Nobody really knows about it so I don't mind smiling to other people, but I don't want to know it."

"How did you figure it out?"

"It's in the curse scroll. I read it through again and realized that's what it meant." I shrug, wanting to talk about anything else.

"Does Harry-"

"Does Harry know that his dear sister whom he just met yesterday and whom was kept hidden at Durmstrang from Voldemort to protect her and her 'gift' aka curse from Voldemort because they were too valuable yet not progressed enough to defeat the man so it was decided it's okay for him to be hurt, hunted, and almost killed instead? No. And I don't think he needs to hear it. Not from me, and not yet."


End file.
